Crowned Eagle we visited in Sept both times and really enjoyed the weather - warm but neither too hot or cold! Veld and flowers were beautiful at that time of year. Sendelingsdrift cottages very comfortable self catering for a night but is on edge of reserve so barking dogs,village sounds also sometimes can be heard. We spent 2 nights at Tatasberg wilderness camp and loved it! Beautiful views across from the cabins and from here you can access the park! You can swim in the river here too!However we did a combination of camping and accommodation in order to experience the greater park - de hoop & kokerboomkloof - offer camping only but are unique with regards to surrounds. De hoop has lovely ablutions with flush loo's and showers! Perhaps you may persuade her for a night or 2 at De hoop Kokerboomkloof beautiful area with magnificent rock formations but facilities were pretty rustic when we were there with chemical loo's & no water. Good luck

We will be visiting the Richtersveld for the first time beginning of September. Can anybody tell me if one can still camp at Kokerboomskloof? It features under accomodation for the Richtersveld but not on the reservation pages? We thought of booking two nights at De Hoop, two nights at Richtersberg and the last night at Kokerboomskloof. We plan on travelling from Alexanderbaai to De Hoop for the first night - any comments or advice?Does it get very cold at night? Space is a problem so we will have to pack sparingly. Any advice will be appreciated.

Alex Bay to De Hoop should be fine in a day. There are 2 'passes' that you have to use low range to 'walk' up the rocky road.September should not be cold at all, and you should be able to swim at De Hoop (the scene of a very moment for me) and Richtersberg.The rest I don't know.

Whatever (according to BB): "You are correct but I don't want to admit it".

We have six nights booked at R/veld for mid September Excitement is mounting!! And now the nitty gritty of the planning is getting done.

We are staying at Tatasberg and Ganakouriep Wilderness Camps. We are driving up from CT.

1. What route do you guys suggest we take? The website advises:

a) The quickest way to get to the Park from N7 (RSA) and B1 (Namibia) is to turn off at Steinkopf and approach via Port Nolloth and Alexander Bay with only the last 80km being on dirt.

b) For those wishing to vary their route and get a broader picture of the |Ai-|Ais/Richtersveld the road from Vioolsdrift, via Kotzehoop, through spectacular scenery to Eksteenfontein and then on to Sendelingsdrift is one well worth traveling. (If you take this route please respect the interests of the Kotzehoop farmers whose crops are affected by the dust from speeding vehicles.)

c) The scenic route via Kuboes, Lekkersing and Eksteenfontein provides an additional dimension of what the region has to offer. Another spectacular route, recommended for 4x4 vehicles only, is over the mountain pass via Helskloof Reserve between Eksteenfontein and Vioolsdrift.

Do b) and c) take that much longer to get to the park?

Any other tips will be most welcome. This is our first visit to the park. (We decided to make it a longer trip than the rush we planned last year.)

We never visited the camps you are staying at DB and we entered the park via Namibia so I am not much help at all. All's I can say is that wherever we went in the Richtersveld it took a lot longer than we anticipated and that was not because we were stopping every 5 mins to photograph birds/animals. ( there weren't many of those).....it is just slow going. I do hope you see some flowers....I was pretty impressed with those. Watch out for the monkeys..they are really naughty... Enjoy.

We are going to sleep over at Port Nolloth so we can take a look around that area and then head to the park in good time to get to the camp. Must say we are very excited, and looking forward to seeing the sun and hopefully flowers